


The Enemy of My Friend is My Super Enemy

by gluupor



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, POV Outsider, Post-Canon, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-11-02 13:27:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20762096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gluupor/pseuds/gluupor
Summary: Grace stands in solidarity with her teammate and friend Andrew Minyard.Therefore, shehatesthat asshole Neil Josten.





	The Enemy of My Friend is My Super Enemy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [saintyves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintyves/gifts).

> This is the first of my gift fics to celebrate 1000 followers on Tumblr. @froggy-iced-tea asked for andreil, secret relationship but with pov outsider.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

Grace liked to give people the benefit of the doubt. This courtesy extended to celebrities, whose public personas were likely not an accurate representation of their actual personalities.

That being said, she hated Neil Josten.

Oh, she wasn’t one of those (frankly terrifying) Raven fanboys online who still, six years later, blamed Josten for the implosion of the team and Riko Moriyama’s suicide. Nor was she one of the people who thought Josten should sit down and shut up; she didn’t find his mouthiness particularly endearing but he wasn’t promoting hate or doing any harm in his post-game interviews.

No, the real reason she hated Neil Josten was because she was a loyal friend and he was in a feud with one of hers.

Of course, calling Andrew Minyard her _friend_ was stretching it a little. Teammate and acquaintance were probably more accurate, but she was working on it, dammit!

She, like the rest of her teammates, had been rightfully wary when management announced they’d signed Andrew out of college. They would have been wary with _anyone_ coming to them from the PSU Foxes—they may have turned into a winning team in recent years but the members were all Foxes for a reason—but Andrew was particularly infamous; only behind Kevin Day and Neil Josten.

He’d been given a wide berth by almost everyone when he’d arrived, which rubbed Grace the wrong way. Sure, he wasn’t particularly _friendly_ and he made it abundantly clear that he would defend his personal space while acting bored and above it all, but he wasn’t outwardly violent or filled with animosity. He seemed almost… shy, or maybe just extremely introverted. Suddenly, in Grace’s eyes, he wasn’t Andrew Minyard: Knife-Wielding Psycho, he was Andrew Minyard: Misunderstood Mystery Boy.

Ever since grade school, Grace had been in the habit of befriending the friendless kids; the ones who were bullied and sat alone at lunch. She was their fierce protector and she was rewarded with a friendship that everyone else overlooked. She was drawn to the misunderstood, the ignored, the forgotten. And she wanted to pull Andrew out of his shell.

It wasn’t a romantic thing, no matter how much her mom teased her. First of all, she may be bi but her tastes ran more to women. Second of all, she already had a steady girlfriend and wasn’t looking to replace her. Third of all, Andrew was probably about a foot too short for her, and blond had never been her preference.

She just wanted to unpeel his layers and bask in the knowledge that she was more discerning that all the other lunkheads on the team.

It was slow going. Andrew was resistant to all her overtures of friendship and she didn’t want to overwhelm him or drive him away. Mostly, she spoke to him when he came out to (mandatory) team events, took note of the books he read on the bus or plane when they travelled for away games (offering comments and suggestions when she could), and made sure to always include him whenever he was automatically dismissed by any of their teammates. What she really wanted to do was hug him, because he seemed like the type of person who’d had a difficult life and needed a hug, but she wasn’t stupid and didn’t want to be stabbed. Instead, she continued with her gradual friend offensive, the same way she would with a feral cat.

She was pretty sure she was making progress. So far, she knew his taste in books was varied and eclectic but that he defaulted to sci-fi, that he didn’t like olives on his pizza, and that he had a cat. She also suspected he was in a relationship, based on the way he seemed almost glued to his phone at times, almost looking fond through his blankness—although it could be that he was pleased with whatever scathing remark he’d blasted Josten with on Twitter. She didn’t think so. He wore a key on a chain around his neck and touched it frequently, as if in reassurance (especially when a plane was taking off or landing).

All in all, after three years she thought he was integrating into the team as well as could be expected and was looking forward to getting to know him better.

Which was why she was so incensed when management announced they’d acquired Neil Josten from Pittsburgh.

Andrew and Josten’s mutual animosity was well known throughout the Exy community. Grace knew very little about it, except that they often sniped back and forth at each other on Twitter and during post-game interviews. She also knew that Andrew played better against Josten’s team than any other, solidifying into an almost-impenetrable wall in front of the goal. She assumed that their feud had started in the college days and carried over to the pros.

She couldn’t believe her ears when she heard that Josten was joining their team. How could management possibly think it was a good idea? Less than a month ago, in response to a reporter’s question about comments Andrew made about Josten’s weak left side, he’d smirked directly into a news camera and said, “Andrew Minyard can suck my dick.” Bringing him to their team was going to mess with their cohesiveness (not to mention that he was a _complete_ media disaster; he probably gave media relations people heart conditions).

Regardless, she was a professional. And as a professional and the striker captain, she was required to make Josten feel welcome. Even when she absolutely had no interest in doing so.

“Any questions?” she asked blandly, following the impersonal tour she’d been asked to give him of their facilities.

“Yeah,” said Josten, turning to look at her. “What’s your plan for whipping your lazy strikers into shape?”

“Our lazy—what?” she demanded.

Josten waved off her ire. “Honestly, if you haven’t noticed, you’re blind,” he said. “Johnson’s basically just coasting.”

While she might privately agree with him, she was _not_ going to let some pompous upstart insult her team like that. “Our offence was one of the best in the league last year—”

He cut her off. “Because your defence is unparalleled. Your strikers have all gotten complacent; if they backchecked sometimes you could be _the_ best.” He patted her on the shoulder. “Oh, well. No worries. I’m here now.” He grinned at her. It wasn’t his cocky media grin, but something more genuine and endearing—probably what allowed him to run his mouth all the time without being unceremoniously stabbed to death.

She crossed her arms and glared down at him. “You’re new here, so I’ll let it slide this time. You’re going to have to learn your place.”

“Impressive glare,” he replied. “I give it a six out of ten. You’ve got nothing on Kevin.” He wandered toward the change room, seemingly unconcerned about angering her.

Grace was fairly certain there was smoke coming out of her ears.

* * *

The main problem with Josten was that he was _right_. Grace could see marked improvements all along the striker line within a week of Josten joining the team. He may be an instigative little shit but he also had the innate ability to push people to perform their best. He was incredibly good at team play; despite his super star status he preferred to pass over shooting and was talented at evading defenders and making himself open.

The most surprising thing to Grace was how good a sport he was. Whenever Andrew managed to shut him out in practice he never got frustrated. He always laughed, delighted, and strived to improve.

Grace could practically _see_ her teammates falling under his spell. She remained immune, as did Andrew. He seemed almost settled and relaxed after his summer break, clearly feeling at home on their team, despite Josten’s intrusion. The two of them mainly kept it professional, but made snide comments to each other from time to time, often in another language. More than once Josten said something sly in what sounded like Russian and Andrew went red in anger, the most emotion she’d ever seen from him.

After watching all of this for a month of pre-season practice, she decided to take action. She stopped Andrew on his way to the locker room after practice, barring his way with her arm.

He looked placidly at her arm and then at her expectantly and she quickly moved it out of his way.

“I just want you to know,” she said hurriedly, “that I’m on your side.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly, the only indication of his confusion.

“Against Josten,” she said. “I know he’s managed to charm the rest of these Luddites, but I know who he really is. And I’ve got your back.” With that she nodded once and retreated to her own dressing room.

After showering and dressing in her everyday clothes, she waited nonchalantly near the exit to the player’s parking lot, wanting to catch Josten on his way out. He was always one of the slowest getting ready and was one of the last to leave. By the time all her teammates had filed past her, with the exception of Josten and Andrew, she began getting worried. What if they were fighting?

She strode purposefully down the hallway and pushed open the door to the men’s change room cautiously in case they were still in the process of changing. They might both be attractive, but she had no desire to see dangling flaccid penises. Luckily both occupants of the room were dressed. Josten was sitting on a bench putting on his socks and Andrew was looming above him. Grace prepared herself to offer support if it turned into a brawl.

“I saw our fearless captain pull you aside after practice,” Josten was saying casually, as if Andrew standing so close to him wasn’t worrying in the slightest. “What was that about?”

“She wanted to let me know that she’s on my side against you,” replied Andrew, his voice sounding uncharacteristically amused.

Josten looked up. “Are we on different sides?” he asked with a smile.

“I don’t think she likes you.”

Josten huffed and shoved his left foot into a sneaker. “Of course she doesn’t; she has a crush on you.” He bent to tie his shoe.

Grace just barely managed to avoid sputtering indignantly.

“No she doesn’t.”

“She wants you to bench press her,” teased Josten. “Squeeze her with your sexy muscles.”

“She doesn’t,” argued Andrew again. “She wants to be my friend.” He sounded completely bemused at the prospect.

Josten chuckled. “How dare she! She sounds like a witch. Let’s burn her at the stake for being so odd.”

He was still laughing when Andrew tipped back his head and kissed him. Grace suppressed a squeak. It was a quick kiss, chaste and casual. It was full of the simple confidence of long familiarity; this was not their first kiss. Josten smiled up at Andrew with a look so filled with tender affection that Grace backed away, not wanting to intrude more than she already had.

She made her way back to the parking lot in a daze, trying to make sense of everything. Several things snapped into focus: Andrew’s increased involvement this year and how he attended more team events than ever before (only the ones Josten was at, she realized in retrospect). The way he and Josten both sharpened when facing each other on the court, eyes glittering with anticipation. Management’s decision to sign Josten: they didn’t _need_ to add a strong striker to their lineup, especially one as expensive as Josten, but if signing him allowed them to keep Andrew? Arguably the best goalie in the league? It made sense.

She shook her head and started her car, wanting to be gone before the two of them left the building. It struck her that only a single car was still in the lot and she wondered how no one had noticed.

Driving out of the lot a horrifying thought struck her. Neil Josten was her friend’s boyfriend. And if she made a point to hate her friends’ enemies then she was also sure to love their friends.

She was going to have to be _nice_ to Josten from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> I can be found on tumblr [@gluupor](http://gluupor.tumblr.com).


End file.
